Illinois still hashing out rules on medical marijuana

Medical marijuana technically became legal in Illinois when the calendar flipped to January, but patients won't be able to access the drug for many months.

That's about how long it will take state officials to write the rules related to its growth and sale. And city officials and doctors are being cautious about how they proceed until those rules are released.

The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act, signed Aug. 1 by Gov. Pat Quinn, allows for 22 centers where medical marijuana will be cultivated and 60 dispensaries where it will be sold.

Chicago and some suburbs have addressed this issue in case the businesses open within their city limits, amending zoning rules about where they can be and adding requirements for parking.

The Illinois Department of Public Health, Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and Department of Agriculture are drafting the final rules. The groups hope to present the rules to the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules within 120 days of the Jan. 1 effective date, IDPH spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.

Arnold said the JCAR process - releasing first and second notices, having a 45-day public comment period, etc. - takes a minimum of 90 days, so license applications may not be available until fall. Once the commission approves and adopts the rules, the application process begins.

So state officials are asking the public to be patient. They's also warning residents that it's still illegal to grow, sell or possess medical marijuana in Illinois.

"The day the rules pass doesn't mean a person can get medical cannabis that day," Arnold said. "It will still be a while."

Nearly 40 medical conditions - including cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis - would qualify patients for the drug's use. Eligible patients can buy up to 2.5 ounces every 14 days.

Experts have said Illinois' law is one of the strictest in the nation. Patients can't grow their own and they must have established relationships with licensed physicians to access the drug.

Rockford Health System plans to do internal education for doctors about the rules once they're released, said Dr. John Dorsey, an internist and the health system's vice president of clinical integration, quality and medical staff affairs.

"We want to make sure staff are adhering to the rules and processes," he said. "We can't do a lot of education until we see those rules specifically."

Doctors need to maintain continuing-education credits to keep their licenses, so learning about and evaluating the use of medical marijuana is part of that.

"New techniques and new therapies are changing old habits," Dorsey said. "This particular one is more unique because there are more restrictions and more legal ramifications.

"It's a very good therapy, and it's a very appropriate therapy for patients who have the conditions on the list."

Mayor Jim Gitz said the Freeport City Council hasn't discussed medical marijuana, but conversations have started at the staff level. He also said the group is waiting for more direction from the state.

"We want to know what the rules of the road are going to be," he said. "It's hard to make decisions on zoning and other regulations until we know what the final scheme looks like."

City officials in Rockford and Belvidere echoed Gitz's comments.

Gitz said he hasn't been approached by anyone looking to open a cultivation center or dispensary in Freeport. But he's a fan of being proactive rather than reactive with such a hot-button issue, although he said medical marijuana regulation doesn't top the city's priority list.

"I've been in public life long enough to know these issues will inevitably come our way," Gitz said. "It's incumbent upon on us to treat this as another issue we have to address."